The technological advances in providing a practical and effective animal transport for motorcyclist is relatively sparse. Child seats or chairs mounted above the rear wheel of a bicycle with restraining straps have been heretofore proposed (e.g. see U.S. Pat. No. 4,053,091 to Martelet, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,234,143 to Mahvi et al.). U.S. Design Patent 276,713 to Schacter discloses a tray-like pet carrier equipped with animal restraining straps for mounting onto a bicycle. Baskets, platforms and pouches serving as an animal carrier for mounting onto an automobile seat are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,010,880 to Guillot-Munoz, U.S. Pat. No. 5,133,294 to Reid, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,044,321 to Selph. Motorcycle mounted pet carriers are also disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,810,227 to Jorgensen and U.S. Pat. No. 5,577,646 to White and in U.S. patent application Publication No. 2005/0217599A1 to Varner. French Patent 2698335 discloses a hinged case or box having two concentric, hollow ventilated transparent upwardly projecting hemispheres which provides ventilation and outside viewing for the animal. The heretofore proposed motorcycle animal carriers generally leave the animal's head unprotected or protruding from a transparent dome. The current animal carriers collectively fail to effectively shield or protect the animal against the hazards of motorcycling. Consequently, the transported unprotected animals are subject to unprotected injuries such as being hit by impacting objects and other common injuries associated with motorcycle accidents as well as those induced by inclement conditions such as heat stroke, hail, rain, sleet, snow, etc.
Motorcyclist take great pride in their motorcycles and accordingly equip their motorcycles with quality accessories which accentuate the beauty and craftsmanship of the motorcycle. Accessories for motorcycles are accordingly relatively expensive and designed to tastefully blend into the basic motorcycle design and function. In addition, the accessories should not detract from the balance, safety and efficacy of the motorcycle operation.
Motorcycles may be optionally equipped with a luggage carrier accessory which mounts above the rear wheel behind the motorcycle seat or passenger seat. These luggage carriers-are usually painted so as to match the color of the motorcycle. These luggage carriers are typically equipped with a lower half or bottom section mounted to the cycle and a detachable or removable top section cover suitably equipped with hinges, latches and locks to hinge and protectively latch and lock the top section onto the bottom section.
There exists a need for a better animal carrier for motorcycles and particularly an animal carrier which would better protect the transported animal against the hazards of cycling. The present invention provides an animal carrier which, if desired, may rely, in part, upon existing motorcycle accessory equipment to provide a safe, attractive, effective and economical animal carrier for the cyclist.